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MyDogDNA News

It’s time to upgrade! The new and even more comprehensive MyDogDNA® 2018 test panel will be available in our web shop starting from next Monday, December 4th, 2017. For dogs that have already been tested with MyDogDNA PASS, MyDogDNA LITE , MyDogDNA 2015 or MyDogDNA 2016 packages, we offer the possibility for cost-efficient upgrade for purchasing the new test content. The upgrade requires a new sample.

Clinical validations of hyperuricosuria in Schapendoes are now complete and we have concluded, that the mutation causing hyperuricosuria in many breeds causes disease also in Schapendoes. The DNA-test for hyperuricosuria is included in the MyDogDNA testing panel for Schapendoes.

Coat type

Furnishings – defining the coat type variety

Pyrenean Sheepdogs (american: Pyrenean Shepherd, french: Berger des Pyrénées) are active, lively herding dogs. The following description in the breed standard describes these dogs very well: “Dog displaying a maximum of nervous energy in a minimum of size and weight. An ever alert physiognomy, a knowing air combined with great liveliness of movement gives this dog a characteristic appearance unlike any other.” In this article we focus on Pyrenean Sheepdog breed data collected with the MyDogDNA –test panel as well as on how to use this data in practice.

Von Willebrand disease is the most common inherited bleeding disorder in dogs, caused by deficient or defective plasma von Willebrand Factor (vWF), a blood clotting protein. Five different genetic variants in the vWF encoding gene have been previously associated to different forms of vWD: Type I, Type II and Type III in dogs. The study published earlier this month, suggest a novel variant as a candidate causal variant for vWD Type II in German Shorthaired Pointer and German Wirehaired Pointer (Vos-Loohuis M et al., 2017).

A recently published article shows that canine breeds can be distinguished by alterations in their lipidome. The study of Lloyd et al. (2017) examined lipidome differences in 100 dogs from 9 different breeds. The study showed distinct inter-breed differences in the breeds’ lipidomes. This study highlights that the genetic differentiation of dog breeds has resulted in alterations in metabolism.

Breed-defining chondrodysplasia, also called short-leggedness, is a favorable phenotype found in some breeds. The well-known features of this breed-defining trait are caused by the FGF4 retrogene insertion. Short-leggedness caused by the FGF4 insertion is a desirable trait, and it is caused by different mutation than the undesired dwarfism causing genetic disorder found in some breeds, such as the Norwegian Elkhound.

Hereditary neurological diseases are often very aggressive conditions that reduce the quality of life of the dog significantly. Some of these conditions are so aggressive that euthanasia is the only option as symptoms progress. Fortunately most hereditary neurological disorders are quite rare.

This week the Journal of Animal Breeding and Genetics published a study regarding the impact of breed history on the genetic diversity in Finnish and Nordic Spitz. The study was conducted in collaboration between Genoscoper Laboratories, breed enthusiasts and the department of Environmental and Biological Sciences, University of Eastern Finland. Besides combining traditional pedigree analysis and genotyping in a unique way, the work is also a rare example of citizen science.

When we first launched the MyDogDNA® (Optimal Selection™ in the United States) DNA test in 2013, we took a giant leap into unexplored territory. To be honest (and we Finns typically are), pioneering a whole new way of thinking about dog DNA testing was not the easiest thing to do.

If you had been able to listen in on the conversations at our laboratory office back then, you would probably have heard us asking ourselves questions such as:

The English Cocker Spaniel is a small-sized gun dog that is mainly used for hunting, dog sports and dog shows. The breed is divided into show and working lines that have distinct characteristics. In this article, we focus on English Cocker Spaniel breed data created by the MyDogDNA testing panel, focusing especially on genetic diversity.

Understanding canine genetic size may be an important tool in the future, for instance, in planning of individual care, such as weight control. Previously we introduced the new size markers added to the MyDogDNA test panel. In this blog article, we will give a deeper insight into the effects of these markers.

MyDogDNA has now added four new size associated genetic markers called GHR1, GHR2, HMGA2,STC2, and a test for breed-defining chondrodysplasia to the test panel. These markers, together with the previously reported size associated markers in IGF1 and IGF1R give more information on the dog size, supporting finer prediction of the genetic size of a dog.

The Irish Soft Coated Wheaten is a wheat coloured, middle-sized, terrier breed. In this article, we focus on Irish Soft Coated Wheaten Terrier breed data collected with the MyDogDNA test panel, as well as on how to use this data in practice.